When I was a kid, we would make a decoration every year for my grandparents. Grandma proudly displayed them every year until she moved to a nursing home.

After she died, we were cleaning out her things and found a box where she had kept all our decorations! Each of us had a shoebox with our name on it that had all the decorations we had made, each in a bag with the year we made them.

These decorations are on my tree and my kids are now enjoying them.

From 1983-1986 my parents were missionaries in Nepal. We would often receive barrels from Australia with all sorts of goodies in them. The most exciting time was around Christmas when the gifts would arrive from our grandparents and other family members, all wrapped and ready to go under the tree. It was always exciting to open the barrels and find the gifts. I don’t envy my parents the task of trying to keep 3 excited kids away from the gifts until Christmas day!

Santa left our pressies in a pillowcase at the end of our beds.

In the morning, we would wiggle our toes like crazy to hear the scrunching noise of a pillowcase full of wrapped gifts. We had strict instuctions that presents could only be opened if the sun was up…so we would use our toes to feel the presents.

Growing up, I saw too many kids being forced to sit on Santa’s knee for a photo, so I decided when I had kids I would only get a photo done on their first Christmas.

My second son was born exactly a week before Christmas. Two days before Christmas I took him to the shopping centre to get his photo taken. I have the most beautiful photo of him at 5 days old fast asleep on Santa’s knee. The photographer even zoomed in a bit so it’s just my son and Santa.

When my parents first got married, my maternal grandparents realised there would be a clash of places to be on Christmas Day. So instead of making mum and dad choose between their families or splitting the day in half, my grandparents came up with a family celebration on the Sunday before Christmas.

The tradition has stuck and we’ve celebrated that way ever since.

And it has made life easier as mum’s siblings got partners, too, and then the grandchildren got partners, and people had interstate relatives… Not only does it reduce the stress of Christmas Day, it has allowed us to celebrate together before some went interstate to be with other family.

Works for us, anyway.

We all know the 12 Days of Christmas, I was doing a Google search & came across the lyrics to the Aussie 12 Days of Christmas. As you obviously love Australia with your Aussie letters, I thought you might enjoy it

When I was a kid, before Mum got us some “proper” stockings, we used to use Dads socks (clean ones). One year, one of my brothers decided they weren’t big enough – so he decided to put up a pillow case. Not to be out done by his big brother, my other brother decided a doona cover was a much better idea…

Both boys were disappointed, however, because neither the pillow case or doona were full of gifts! They still received the same number of gifts they would have received with the sock.

Every year I have my kids photos taken with Santa. I buy a nice frame and put them on display when I put up my Christmas decorations. It’s nice to look at them every December and reflect on how much my kids have grown and changed. I only leave the current photo on display for the whole year.

Santa adapts well to each family’s preferences and traditions, leaving presents wherever suits the family, be it in a stocking or not, under the tree, indoors or even outdoors.

So let us know where Santa leaves presents in your house – is it the same as when you were younger? Is there a story or reason for that place?

Love Santa’s Elf

When I was a kid, we used to go to my grandparents every second year, and we always left a snack for Santa when we were there.

One year, instead of the traditional glass of milk, we left a stubbie of beer. The next morning we found a note from Santa saying “Thank you for the beer, but I don’t drink and fly!”

A couple of years ago, Santa wasn’t able to make it to the occasional care centre where my darling wife worked and daughters were cared for, so I volunteered to don the red suit and fill in for the big man.

I remember it being a typically hot December morning so it wasn’t much fun to wear a suit, cushioning, wig, beard and gloves, but watching the kids’ excitement was worth it.

The funniest part of the day, however, was watching my 2.5 year old daughter stay away form me in fear. Her mum got her close to me only with a bribe of a lolly bag, and that was only with holding mum’s hand tightly and running once she had the bag! All her friends sat on my lap, but not my little girl.

It was hard keeping a straight face and not telling her who was really under the suit, but we weren’t going to spoil the illusion for any of the kids.

Christmas brings many images to mind – rushing around getting gifts organised, preparing food, visiting family and friends, decorations everywhere, end of year projects/assignments being finished, cricket season, and so on.

There are so many different ways to celebrate Christmas, too. Especially when you consider the variety of family size and structures now, and how many people don’t live close to family.

This section of our blog is for sharing those traditions, ideas and stories that have made our Christmases what they are. Hopefully, reliving the memory will bring a smile to your face and the face of others. And it may just start a family tradition for others, too.

To add your story, please register on the site by clicking ‘register’ under the meta heading on the left, and then log in using your password. Go to the ‘write’ page and type in your story – simple! Stories are all moderated before they go live (just to ensure it stays family friendly) but your story should be live not long after you post it.

So please let us know some of the things that make your Christmas special.

Love Santa’s Elf